In Sheffield England, a group of prisoners were sentenced to plant bulbs in the gardens alongside motorway - when they came up in spring it became obvious that they had been planted in patterns making interesting 4 letter words

Mauricio Fierro gained instant fame in December in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the reported victim of a car theft (captured on surveillance video) when he dashed into a pharmacy. He went to a police station to file a report but encountered the pharmacy owner making his own report - that Fierro was actually robbing him at the moment the car was taken. More surveillance video revealed that while Fierro was standing outside the pharmacy, wondering where his car was, a man ran by and stole the stolen cash. Fierro then immoderately complained to the police even more about Sao Paulo's crime rate and lack of security. Afterward, Fierro admitted to a local news website that in fact he had stolen the very car that he was reporting stolen.

A British woman had her debit card stolen, but when got her bank statement her account had an extra £700 in it - turned out thief had used card to place couple of bets, and when they won, the bookie paid winnings directly back into the account.

The Supreme Court of Spain tossed out assault charges against Henry Osagiede in August because of unfairness by Madrid police. Osagiede, a black man, was convicted after the victim identified him as her attacker, in a lineup in which he was the only black man.

Guy produced own parking meter tickets and went round putting them on car windscreens, complete with SAE to send in the fine

On basis of insurance claims, Poms lose more Louis Vitton luggage each year than has ever been sold in Britain.

Tractors are the latest target in Britain for an international criminal gang making millions from stealing top-of-the-range models which are smuggled abroad. The thefts are planned and carried out so meticulously that investigators believe they could be dealing with former Irish paramilitaries. Hundreds of tractors are being stolen in an extraordinary crimewave that is worth £3 million a year and affects most counties in rural Britain. Stolen tractors, diggers, trailers and quad bikes are being transported openly and shipped overseas as far as Australia. Crime

The standard theory of criminal behaviour at the time was that criminals were mentally ill or social victims. Becker, however, realised that the decision he had made to break the law had been entirely rational. Those who break the law balance the costs and the benefits of doing it. Gary Becker

There are three distinct types of prisoner: immature boys, people in dire need of help and career criminals. The task of penal policy should be to stop the first two ending up in prison and turning into the third. Sentencing

The Castle provides solutions to several of the most important problems facing newly released prisoners. One is housing. Between 10 and 20 percent of people released from state and city prisons and jails have nowhere stable to go - they couch surf with friends or go into homeless shelters. But a stable home is a prerequisite for all the other things needed for a productive life. The Castle can be that home for a few nights or many months, until the person can find work and safe housing he or she can afford. After Prison

New York City, embracing an experimental mechanism for financing social services that has excited and worried government reformers around the world, will allow Goldman Sachs to invest nearly $10 million in a jail program, with the pledge that the financial services giant would profit if the program succeeded in significantly reducing recidivism rates.

The city will be the first in the United States to test 'social impact bonds,' also called pay-for-success bonds, which are an effort to find new ways to finance initiatives that might save governments money over the long term. Private Investment to Reduce Crime

A new study in the academic journal Theoretical Criminology (hat tip to the Vancouver Sun) suggests that, far from causing offenders to repent of their sins, religious instruction might actually encourage crime. Indeed, many of those surveyed used their understandings of faith to justify their own criminal behavior. A 25-year-old drug dealer called Cool suggested that God doesn't mind when you do bad things to bad people: if you doing some wrong to another bad person, like if I go rob a dope dealer or a molester or something, then it don't count against me because it's like I'm giving punishment to them for Jesus. That's God's will. Oh you molested some kids? Well now I'm [God] sending Cool over your house to get your ass. Crims and Religion

Problem with juries: they are not 12 independently minded people trying to evaluate the facts - most are juries of 1 or 2 people. One or two strong willed people always dominate - we have evolved in societies where its best if everyone does the same thing, with a few good leaders and a lot of sheep.How Many Friends Does One Person Need

Con men use distraction to sneak something past your guard. Listening to flattery from a charmer imposes a large cognitive load, meaning there is less brain processing power left to handle critical thinking like reality checking. You can make it work in your favour when you're trying to detect if someone is lying. The more you can give someone to think about, the less resources he can use to conceal the truth. Standard police procedure for interrogators to be called out of room for some 'new information', thickly padded dossiers with suspect's name on it left in view etc Flipnosis

American police records show effect of sports teams losing on domestic violence stats. An upset loss leads to a 10% increase in the losing team's city; if they make an unusual number of mistakes or turnovers the figure goes up to 15%. And if it's against a traditional rival, hits 20%. But only for an unexpected loss - if predicted, no spike. But doesn't work the other way - upset win doesn't reduce domestic violence.

Violent films actually correlate lower violence. Explanation seems to be that the violent people are off the street while they're watching the film. Not only that, they are sober in the theatre, so the effect lasts for a couple of hours into the evening. Brain Trust

Distinguished by the surname he assumed to celebrate his having received, at age 3, the Anti-Social Behavior Order (introduced in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair's Crime and Disorder Act), Lionel divides his time among Extortion With Menaces, Receiving Stolen Property and their inevitable result: prison.... (but) his criminal career is derailed by his winning the lottery. Lionel Asbo

By the late 1920s, all but the most extreme backers of Prohibition could see how miserably it had failed. Millions of otherwise honest citizens routinely flouted the law. Thousands more were poisoned by cheap homemade brews. Government revenues plummeted, while official corruption ran wild. Ruthless local gangs, led by small-time hoodlums like Al Capone, Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, formed syndicates that modernized criminal activity throughout the United States. Last Call - The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

Ultimate reason men do anything is to impress women so that they will have sex with them. All women who want to, can have sex. But for men, the greater the income inequality, the more men will miss out.... Most homicides between men start from trivial fights over status that escalate because neither will back down. Why Beautiful People have More Daughters